A genre mashup littered with talent and charisma, Lisa Frankenstein may not be a horror movie in a classical sense, but it pays tribute to the great films that came before it in a colorful, genuine manner; from a whip-quick Rocky Horror Picture Show reference to the obvious comparison to the backwards love story Warm Bodies. This film brings us the return of Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body) to the writer’s room alongside director Zelda Williams, delivering another coming of (r)age tale with a strong dose of girl power that’s just as strange and entertaining as our last horror foray with this screenwriter. With critics leaning more heavily towards more style than substance when it comes to this film, audiences are still tuning in to see what Lisa Frankenstein is about and how Diablo Cody has evolved since our sensual succubus, Jennifer. An animated introduction gives us a short story of two lovers with tragic lives brought together and suddenly separated by death, burying the unmarried lad in Bachelors Cemetery Grove. Present day we find Lisa (Kathryn Newton) creating wax rubbings from a gravestone to rename herself Lisa Frankenstein per the deceased surname.
Back at home, Lisa and stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) have a “rager” to attend. Lisa apparently needs socialization as she doesn’t go out and talk turns to taking a shortcut through the cemetery. Lisa sees it as a tragedy that the graveyard has gone unloved, believing no one should be forgotten, but less whimsical people like Taffy say witchcraft and other seedy gatherings go on there. She confesses she has a favorite tombstone, a young man’s grave that she tends to and talks to, prompting ridicule. The party is all hormones, booze and gossip as Lisa awkwardly chats up a crush, and her sister is busy spilling personal business. Lisa is an odd duck to most, so Taffy takes her place to explain that one night, when Lisa was younger, an intruder broke into the family home with an axe. Sent to hide, Lisa waited out the attack only to find her mother brutally slain, with no suspect found. Followed by some crass talk about the marriage of convenience between Lisa’s father and Taffy’s mother, the relationship blossomed at an alarmingly rapid pace, considering the murder. TMI for sure.
Challenging the overarching idea that she can’t party, Lisa downs a mystery drink and is soon in low orbit. Totally tripped out and overdosing on paranoia, she’s scooped up off the floor by her lab partner, Doug (Bryce Romero). Taking her to a quiet, secluded place, this is starting to seem shadier by the minute after Lisa purges. Suddenly grabbing a breast and putting her hand on his crotch, Doug insists “you can’t stop what you started,” rapist logic if I’ve ever heard it. Still dazed, she tries to find her way out of the house and into the newly arrived storm, stumbling to the cemetery and wishing over her favorite grave that she could join him. Lightning striking in the midst of a dream, Lisa finds herself awaking in black and white, dressed for the Frankenstein-style atmosphere, now perched beside the moving bust that once sat still atop a gravestone. It looks like Lisa found a connection to her lost lover, but the question is: can she make this connection permanent? Or can a burst of mysterious lightning bring life into what was only fantasy?
Atmospheric and colorful, evocative of the 80s, Lisa Frankenstein delivers on style (sometimes borrowing from substance) from the ugly furniture to the outrageous clothes, makeup, and a very 80s bedroom fashion show that passed for trendy back then. Makeup, practical effects and costumes are all notable, bringing Corpse Bride, Beetlejuice and Bride of Frankenstein vibes. Beyond what you see, we get a delicious soundtrack of classic old songs to dance along to the upbeat rhythms of this film, and a duet piano rendition of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” Vivid and eccentric enough to make you crack a smile, this horror-comedy-romance reminded me of the laughably enjoyable Warm Bodies where corpses are allowed to love, too. Kathryn Newton has range in her performance – once an awkward fumbling adolescent mess, soon solidified into a confident young woman in love with life and death. She brilliantly plays Lisa, sincerely devoted to the dark and mysterious yet carrying a sense of levity with her; she’s an endearing complex character with the simplest need for love. The rest of the cast does their jobs dutifully, orbiting Newton with the likes of scream queen Carla Gugino playing an antagonistic stepmother, and Cole Sprouse making the most of a nearly completely silent role. Gugino is particularly nasty here, which is not usually a look we see on Carla, countered nicely by the unrefined charm of The Creature.
As the first act fades, we see a confident Lisa striding the hallways like the women of The Craft. Having even one person, even a virtually non-verbal person, validate her wardrobe and her interests, offering comfort after false accusations (and a little revenge), elevates Lisa’s confidence through the ceiling. She’s no longer alone, she feels at peace with a creature not meant to be alive, flowing with the (electrical) current instead of shakily fighting it, as she had been. The Creature is familiar enough that we understand it to be Frankenstein’s Monster, while still maintaining more modern appearances even under a swathe of makeup. Labelled a “coming of RAGE story,” it has more fight in it than some final girls do and enough gross outs to keep you coming back for the horror elements. More a personal journey than a horror flick, Lisa Frankenstein gives 80s camp horror with a dose of romance, where even the dead don’t have to sleep alone.